


their thing

by blackfodder



Category: Titans (TV 2018)
Genre: Dick being a Dad, Dumb Dick Grayson, F/M, I love Dick Grayson don't come for me., Mamma Kori (DCU), Misunderstandings, Protective Dick Grayson, bbrae - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-10-10 09:40:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20525900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackfodder/pseuds/blackfodder
Summary: Gar and Rachel begin to take advantage of Gar's newfound animal morphs. Dick decides he loves it. Until he hates it."Their thing, you know. Like Hawk and Dove. Connor and Krypto. Jason and his attitude."





	their thing

**Author's Note:**

> A little 700-word fice that turned into a 6k monster as I rewatched titans and realized Gar was not getting enough emotional development. This was meant to stop at around where you see Donna's name pop up for the first time. But I kept adding and adding to it. Tied it up at this point only because I needed to post before Friday and the new episode rid this all as obsolete.
> 
> Proofread by Grammarly at 1AM. Yikes.

They were lying on the floor the first time Dick caught them. Gar was shifted into a large lion, his immense green mane brought a swell of pride to his chest. Months of work, meditation, too many trips to the local zoo to count, but Gar was finally learning to shift into more than just a tiger. They couldn't seem to get rid of the green color, but Dick had figured they could work around it.

Large cats were the first thing he learned how to do. Leopard, lion, and jaguar all came quickly after he made his first shift from a Bengal to a Siberian tiger. But staying in a morph outside of consciousness was a new achievement. 

He had come looking for Rachel. Who was late for her one on one session with him. His mind had been made up to come into her room sternly, but when he saw her snoring on the floor, legs propped up diagonally on the rump of the African lion snoring even louder next to her, he decided against it. She had her arms crossed over her chest and an opened book tucked under them. 

Just this once they could both have a pass. He carefully walked over to the two teens and pulled the giant paw smothering Rachels's face off and onto the floor. Then with a quick swipe of his phone, he measured the large lion and walked out of the room flicking the lights. He gave the two teens one last peek through the cracked door. One afternoon off would be okay. They deserved it. 

The next few times had only kept exciting him and he'd talk Kori endlessly about all the new ways Gar was using his abilities. It had become a mandatory topic as they got ready for bed every night. 

Gar turning into a door mouse to grab Rachel's ring from the sink pipes. Gar as a crocodile substituting as a paddleboard for Rachel at the lake. Gar as a macaw helping Rachel set up the twinkle lights in her room. He documented every casual use of power and studied how to adapt the newfound skills into combat or fieldwork. It was exciting and made him feel achieved and useful in his role as the team leader. 

He'd found them in the courtyard once, an endless thick green snake lounging peacefully on the metal support beams of the tower. Rachel was seated in between the snakes draped folds, carefully curled up as if she were in a hammock swiping through her phone. He had asked them to get off, not wanting to risk a cracked rail under the weight of them both. But before shooing them away he had Gar stretch across the courtyard and made Rachel help measure him from tip to end. 

Another time they'd been at the mall a few towns away from the tower. Dawn had planned the excursion as a treat for the team, insisting Connor could do with more clothes.

It was there that Gar had decided to spend his day in the mall's koi pound, discreetly slipping enough coins into Rachel's hands for two ice creams. It was unnecessary petty theft. But Dick let it slide because Gar had been having trouble retaining instruction as aquatic creatures. 

At the end of the day, they'd left the mall with two overpriced waffle gelato cones. Conner who the trip had been for, left with nothing but a bag of milk bones. 

The day after that had been the first time it bothered him. It was seven in the morning when he walked into the kitchen and Rachel was already sitting on the island, a plate of strawberry waffles stacked high in front of her. 

''Morning!" she chirped at him and he gave her a confused smile in return. She wasn't a moody teen in the slightest unless she was provoked but she was never this chipper either. Especially this early. 

"Good morning, Rachel," he turned to pour himself a coffee to avoid her exaggerated grin. It was sweet, but frankly put him on edge, knowing full well the dangers of teenage girls. 

Donna's cheshire grins from his childhood coming to mind, the ones that always ended with both of them in ridiculous situations. 

When he faced her again she was fully immersed in her waffle, smiling at herself as she poked into the whip cream and berries with a fork. 

It was a rare moment where he could still catch a glimpse of the little Rachel he'd first found all those months ago. Despite having grown like a weed overnight she was still so young. Too young for everything she'd gone through in the past year since he'd found her. 

She must have felt him starting because she looked right up at him, the corners of her moth lowering down into a straight line. 

"What."

"Nothing, just looking at you."

"Okay... weirdo."

"Not against the law to look at your favorite kid." 

Her smile came back, but it was more embarrassed than mischevious this time. 

"I heard from Donna you kicked ass during your last session with her. I know you were struggling with those reactive kicks." he smiled brightly at her, suddenly feeling quite fatherly.

He knew it wasn't his place to think of himself as a father to her. Donna had told him as much when she'd caught on. It'd only clout his judgment when it came to her. But he couldn't help it. 

"Oh yeah, kicking. It's so hard." She rolled her eyes at him, slipping her hand onto her lap to fiddle at something. 

"Well, it can be for some people. I just wanted to say I'm proud of you. I think it's important that you're putting so much effort into hand to hand," he waved his mug at her, "It's good to not just rely on your powers. " 

She mumbled thanks to that and a faint flush warmed up her face. 

Great. All those times Bruce would try to say something kind and then take it one step to far into awkward. Now there he was on the other side of it. So much for being the cool leader. 

He cleared his throat and took a long sip of his coffee as he settled on what to say next. 

"Has Gar woken up yet?" That was a safe enough topic. "I have him and Jason scheduled in twenty." 

Rachel took another forkful of waffle before responding, "Jason went out last night. Said he had some bros and hoes to meet up with. I doubt he even came back home. Gar's right here." 

Dick darted his eyes through the kitchen and adjoining sitting room. He hadn't seen any animals. Or heard them for that matter. Although Gar being awake was the only reasonable explanation as to why Rachel had such a large stack of restaurant-quality waffles in front of her. 

"Here, where..." He felt uneasy asking, waiting for him to pop out and try to scare him. He stole a glance into his coffee cup. Just in case. 

Rachel smirked and put her hand face up onto her waffle stack. One of her strawberries began to move on its own and then slowly two green antennas began to rise out of the whipped cream. An ant. A bit ant. 

It moved its way up Rachel's arm carrying a respectable strawberry slice in its large mandibles. 

"It's an Elate Camponotus," Rachel began to explain "We saw it on TV, it's the biggest class in the carpenter ant colonies." 

The ant suddenly took flight. How had he missed the wings on the back of its body? It was large for an ant but small just the same. The smallest thing Gar had turned into by far and it could fly and carry a bit of weight. 

Instead of feeling the excitement he usually did when Gar turned into a new animal, he only felt his stomach drop as the ant landed on Rachels's cheek and dropped the strawberry into her open mouth. Rachel laughed and the little bug moved up to rest on her forehead by her chakra stone. She gave Dick a smug look, proud of their little show. 

Dick swallowed, "Shouldn't you be heading down to the gym, Gar?" 

"Oh wait!" Rachel pushed a last bite of waffle into her mouth and shoved her plate forward. "I need Gar for like five minutes! He'll be right down!" She cupped the little ant into her hand and ran out of the kitchen before Dick could even register what she was saying. 

"I need him in three make it quick!" he yelled after them. But the doors were already swinging shut behind them and all he could hear was there giggling as they stomped down the hall. 

It kept happening. Like it always did. But now he hated it. A fat cat nuzzled on her lap while they watched a movie in the lounge. A python wrapped around her leg and waist as they walked down to the ship deck. A koala encircled around her arms as they stood waited outside at a food truck. 

The whole time Rachel acting as if he was nothing more than an accessory. An accessory that nibbled and nuzzled at her fingers a little too much for his liking. 

He'd come to realize that he barley saw Gar in his human form anymore. Half the time he wasn't even sure if Gar understood what he was saying to him or if the gorilla he was barking orders at during drills was following instructions or following what everyone else was doing. 

Rachel seemed to communicate fully with him. He would find them sitting around just staring at each other, silently emoting and reacting as if they could speak telepathically. He wondered if maybe they could. He wondered why they hadn't told him they could if it where true. The thought irritated him to no end. 

As weeks went by he only became more and more annoyed by them both; and by both, he knew he meant Gar. Teams needed ground rules. Rules about keeping your hands, paws, hoofs, or wings to yourself. 

Dick knew he needed to bring it up to Kori. He'd been going over it so much in his head he knew he couldn't see anything good about what Gar and Rachel were constantly doing anymore. 

Was it as bad as he was making it out to be? She'd tell him the truth and be objective. If Gar was getting a little fresh about his powers they'd sit him down for a talk. 

Of course, when he finally worked up the nerve to talk to her about her precious Garfield it had to be the day she had him power washing her ship as an elephant. Kori gushed about him all week. 

Two months after the waffle moment, as he now referred to it, Gar attempted his clinging with someone else. 

They were on a late-night jet to Star City for a meeting on jurisdiction Bruce had set up. It was slated for a quick one on one with the Lantern Corps, but suddenly became a summit with teams from all over the country. The overnight visit became a week-long work trip before he had anything to say about it. 

He had decided to bring some of the team along. Donna, Gar, Rachel, and Hank were the lucky chosen. Their newer members staying behind with Dawn and Kori. And of course Jason. There was no way Dick was supervising Jason in a city that big. 

A few hours into the flight, with everyone asleep but him and Donna, is when it happened. They were both seated toward the front of the jet going over notes before the first meeting at tomorrows summit. 

Donnas was noticeably crabby, not looking forward to all the elbow greasing they where sure to be doing tomorrow, "Dick, if you don't go grab me a coffee or let me go to sleep I'll embarrass you more than I did at Bruces 40th birthday party tomorrow." 

"I'll call for the stewardess," he said with a laugh but Donna grabbed his arm before he could press the overhead button. 

"No. Go grab them yourself. That poor woman looked exhausted even before this flight started." she nodded her head to the back of the plane where the curtain was already tightly drawn around the steward seat. 

He agreed and with an exaggerated stretch pulled himself out of his chair. Donna made sure to take the opportunity to slap him in the stomach as his shirt rode up. They pulled at each other for a bit, acting like a couple of rowdy five-year-olds until he finally got a good nuggie in and quickly dashed toward the back of the plane.

He stuck his tongue out at her once he was out of reach and then just to remind himself that he was an adult did a head check of his team

Each was soundly sleeping in their respective seats even Gar was curled up inside a neck pillow in the form of a small kitten. 

Maybe it was the tiny little kitten face or the fact that Gar had been so helpful with loading luggage that afternoon, or maybe that he'd completely kept his body to himself in the past 24 hours, but a smile tugged at his lips. 

Starting tomorrow he'd wipe the slate clean with him. If he could turn into seemingly any animal himself Dick imagined he'd be a bit over-eager to climb and cling onto anything and everything he could. He had been harsh. But he could stop that this week. 

When he returned to his seat Donna was waiting on him with a pointed look, her finger slowly coming up to point. Dick frowned but followed to where her finger was now moving down. A larger green cat rather than a kitten he saw earlier was sleepily rubbing itself against her legs. Before she could open her mouth to say something the cat jumped onto her lap and attempted to settle itself between her thighs. 

"Get off me, you little dweeb," Donna hissed and grabbed the cat by the scruff, quickly tossing it behind her. It let out a surprised yowl as it flew threw the cabin and landed somewhere behind them with a thud. 

Dick could do nothing to wipe the indecorous look off his face. He was vaguely aware of Rachel making a noise behind them having been woken up by Donna's outburst no doubt. He quickly sat down sloshing their coffee's in the process in his eagerness to whisper to her, "That's weird right. That he does that." 

Donna rubbed down her pants, making an annoyed face at the little tear the cat had made in her sweats trying to cling on, "It's effing creepy it what it is." 

Dick stole a glance to the back of the cabin. "He does it with Rachel all the time," he tried to keep his voice low. Rachel was now fully up, looking over at them from behind her headrest. When their eyes meet they both looked away. He angled himself away from her and scooted closer to Donna. 

"I've been wanting to say something for weeks but I honestly didn't know if I was overreacting." 

Donna took a swig at her coffee, "It's still him. I mean he's basically naked, isn't he? Of course, that's something you should bring up. How would you like it if I just walked around sitting on people nude? You should have called him out ages ago." 

Dick frowned, "He only does it with Rachel. Or did. You're probably the only other person I've seen him try it with." 

Donna rolled her eyes, "Don't be so sure. I've caught him plenty of times getting carried around by Kori and Rose." 

She reached for her coffee and took a long swig, "If you're going to say something I'd do it before the summit tomorrow. We don't need him creeping people out at this summit." 

Dick agreed. Their first-team appearance didn't need any hiccups. It was bad enough he knew people were already questioning Bruce's decision to fund a second Titans team. 

Donna tapped at their papers in front of them and with that he knew the conversation was over. 

But it was enough for Dick. It was vindication. It wasn't just him. Someone else didn't agree with what Gar was doing either. 

When they unboarded the plane Gar was safely wrapped up on Rachel's wrist in the form of a small garden snake. He didn't turn back into himself even when Dick was handing out room cards in the hotel lobby. 

Hank had the sense to realize something was off and took over for Rachel then who had been carrying both her and Gar's duffel. 

"I'll get the kids settled in," Hank told them but made sure to give Dick a dirty look as they walked away. Dick could only exchange a look with Donna. Great. 

"Yay, Titans," Donna mumbled as they boarded the elevators. 

If Gar and Rachel were a little colder toward Donna the first few days of their trip she didn't let it faze her. But it only made Dick more annoyed than he already was with them both. So much for a clean slate. 

Gar didn't morph once during the entire summit. A few people came up to him to ask if he even could turn into anything at all. He had to explain that he could and then awkwardly ask Gar to please morph in front of their peers. 

The moment was uncomfortably tense. Gar chose to morph into a duck and refused to change back for the rest of the day. 

At the end the week the tension between Dick and Gar was painfully obvious to everyone at the summit, and of course, that now meant Rachel wasn't speaking to him either. 

Despite how angry and embarrassed he was, the need to clear the air returned to Dick on the ride home. They'd boarded the plane quietly. All of the excitement that had been there on the first flight replaced with moodiness and muttering as they made their way to their seats. 

Dick tried not to think about how Gar had been so excited to meet all the heroes at the summit. He tried to think even less about the fact that he'd made Gar morph under pressure in front of everyone. 

When their private car finally rolled into the tower late at night, Gar lept out of the back seat and scurried into the tower as a rat before anyone else could even unbuckle themselves. 

Hank made sure to give Dick a hefty shove as he walked into the tower with both his and Gar's duffel. "Nice going bird-tits. You'd think you'd be more tolerant of creepy by now."

So everyone knew. He turned to look at Donna but there wasn't any guilt on her face. She rose her hands up, "I stand by what I said, he can't just go around sitting on people Dick. You need to say something to him. I'll apologize if he apologizes to me." 

"I will. We probably all need to do some apologizing." They made their way slowly inside going around to the back of the tower and entering through the cargo doors. Going through the back was an old habit for them. 

He remembered the time they'd knocked over a six-foot ice sculpture at a Wayne Enterprises function when they were kids. They'd both swore to Alfred it hadn't been them, but then took the long way back to the manor to avoid Bruce's questioning gaze. 

Donna had started picking at her nail beds by the time he was finally inputting the security code to the back door. The telltale sign she felt guilty too. When they finally got the door open and entered into the cargo hold Kori was standing in the doorway, arms crossed with a disapproving look on her face. 

She tapped her foot to the ground, "You two want to explain?" 

Dick felt his face flush. Gar was 15. And here he was, a grown man in a tiff with a 15-year-old boy sneaking around the tower to avoid talking to anyone about it. 

Donna kept her chin up but averted her gaze, "We had a small misunderstanding on the trip between members. I plan to apologize tomorrow." And with that, she bounced away before Kori could get another word in. 

Kori let her eyes trail after Donna but didn't say anything else. Instead, she waited for Dick to explain. When he didn't she spun on her heel and walked back to their bedroom, eye mask firmly in place by the time Dick crawled into bed next to her. 

The next morning he finally told her. He hadn't meant to bring it up to Kori until after he dealt with it. After an apology to Gar was already set. 

He had woken too early in the morning the next day. And of course, his first thought was about how he was to go about repairing his relationship with Gar today. 

He tried to shove the thought out of his head for a few more moments. Focusing on the outdated popcorn ceilings of their bedroom instead. How had they not updated those when they did the remodel? 

But that only made him think of how Rachel had been feeding popcorn to a ridiculously small monkey seated on her lap a few weeks ago at the movies. Despite being funded by Bruce Wayne himself, Rachel loved sneaking Gar into places under the guise of saving money. Gar, of course, went along with it. 

He stole a glance at the clock. Four. No, it was still way too early. 

Dick turned his head to look at Kori instead, grabbing her hand and rubbing at her palm producing a small little mewl from her. She kept her eyes closed but brought up her other hand from under the blankets for him. She had on bright green nails. Green. How had he not noticed those last night? 

He was going to start hating that color if he didn't clear the air with Gar soon. Dick dropped her hands and groaned, his guilt was firmly planted into his brain and he couldn't stop himself. He needed to talk about it. 

"Kori,"

"No, to whatever it is. Unless it's the only thing people should be doing this early in bed," she mumbled from under her eye mask. 

Dick smiled and slipped the mask off her face. 

"Kori, what do you think about Gar?" 

Kori shifted her head up toward him from the pillow but didn't open her eyes, still trying to remain asleep, "What about him?"

"Him and Rachel. Specifically him and all his animals and Rachel." He bit at his lip, hoping that his voice was coming out as calm as he was trying for it to be. 

"You mean like how he's always riding on her now?" Her tone was teasing. 

Dick felt his neck go hot and Kori laughed, now fully awake and propping herself up. "Wait. Is that honestly bothering you?"

"It's not just me, Donna agrees."

"With what?

"That it's inappropriate." 

"Inappropriate? It's their thing."

Dick turned to fully look at her, his voice already betraying him and going shrill. 

"It's their thing? What does that even mean, their thing." he pulled himself out of bed already regretting trying to talk about this with Kori. 

She loved Gar. She could catch him robbing a Best Buy at gunpoint and find a way to excuse him for it. 

"Their thing, you know. Like Hawk and Dove. Connor and Krypto. Jason and his attitude."

She had pulled a blue nail file seemingly out of nowhere and was now working at her green nails. "They're Rachel and Gar. Raven and Beastboy." She scrunched her face at Gars alias. "Still don't get that name by the way." 

Dick scoffed as he pulled on his pants. "I don't want them paired off like that. We're a team. Not a bunch of duos." 

"Of course we're a team, Dick. But they like each other. They're allowed to interact however they want." 

"What do you mean they like each other?

"Don't be stupid Dick you know what I mean. They just like each other. Doesn't mean they're hooking up in the middle of the night in their rooms." 

Dick felt a muscle at his face twitch. "They're what?" 

Kori propped up onto her knees sensing she'd teased him too far and crawled to the end of the bed, grabbing his arm before he barged into one of the teens' room.

"Dick I'm poking fun. Calm down. Gar wouldn't do that. You know he wouldn't. Rachel wouldn't let him for that matter." 

She pushed a hand into his hair, knowing that calmed him, "What's going on. Be honest."

He felt himself relax into her touch and sat back onto the edge of the bed. Kori quickly pulled herself up behind him. Her long legs going around his sides and resting her chin on his shoulder. She waited for him to talk. Not wanting to push him into the topic. 

"It's not a good foundation. To start a relationship like this. On a team like this. I never want to think I'll put them through something they can't handle but this line of work isn't guaranteed. People come and go for so many different reasons.'' 

He knew that's what it was. Weeks he'd been torturing himself over Gar and Rachel not understanding completely why but knowing it was more than him being overprotective. Them becoming closer than they already where would only hurt them more if something happened. He didn't want them to be too dependent on each other. Not any more than they needed to be. 

"This doesn't have anything to do with Dawn does it? With what happened between you and her."

Dick reached down and wrapped her arms tighter around him, "You know about that." 

"Yeah. I asked Dawn."

"Why didn't you ask me?"

"I wanted to ask her."

He didn't respond. Mulling it over his head. Him and Dawn. He couldn't picture Gar and Rachel in a situation like that. Suddenly not speaking for years after giving into their emotions. Either of them having a tense relationship with a surrogate Hank like figure. 

He smiled at the idea of it. No way. Neither Rachel or Gar would end up like that. 

"Rachel and Gar are more mature than that. No offense to Dawn." 

"I'm sure she'd agree. She gave herself enough share of the blame for what happened between you two." 

"You guys talked that much about it?" 

"Oh yeah, we talked for hours. After the third bottle of wine, she started to spill." 

Dick whipped back around to look at her, Dawn knew too many embarrassing things. Things he wasn't ready for a space goddess he was still having a hard time believing was in his bed to know. 

Kori giggled, "I'm kidding. She was a total gentleman in her retelling." 

Dick shook his head, "Oh I'm sure she was." he pulled her arms tighter around himself and leaned back into her. He loved that she could take his weight. 

"So what happened with Gar on the trip. What was the misunderstanding?"

"He tried to take a nap on Donna's lap," saying it out loud he couldn't help but laugh at how hilarious it was. 

Kori giggled into his neck, "Of course he did. So what did Donna do?"

"She threw him off her lap. And then I think Rachel and him overheard us saying it was creepy how he did that to people." 

The giggling stopped. 

"You did not call that sweet boy creepy to his face without apologizing to him immediately." 

"It wasn't to his face. We were whispering!"

"Dick! The boy has ears like a basset hound. You can't whisper around him." 

"Okay, I know that now. And I am going to apologize. But he does need boundaries, Kori. If he and Rachel are going to be that close fine, I can deal with that. But he can't just act like an animal when it suits him!" 

Kori shoved herself away from him and off the bed, "I mean can you blame him when you practically treat him like one." 

"I don't treat Gar like an animal! That's ridiculous!" 

"Honestly Dick. All you do is measure him and catalog and figure out a way for him to fight people without biting them. I'm surprised you aren't pressuring him to do that more." 

"Okay well, that's my job, Kori! It wasn't just going to be trips to the zoo and watching animal planet forever with him. And you know that. And so did he when he signed up for this!"

"Of course he knew that! But maybe he just thought you'd also give him the same amount of attention you give Rachel! You think he was getting any good mentorship from that last creep he was living with! You don't even talk to him, Dick. You have no idea what he's been through!" 

They were fully yelling at each other now and he was completely aware this was their first fight. He was also aware of the fact that they were having their first fight before he had even taken her on a first date. 

Kori stormed out of the room the minute she was fully dressed. He was too angry at himself to even try and walk after her. It was way too early for a drink but he went to the minibar in the corner of the room and poured himself something heavy anyway.

He thought about what she had said, that he never talked to Gar. It wasn't true. They talked every day before he had become fully aware of him and Rachel's antics. They talked about his weight, food, his numbers in the gym...

"Great job Grayson," he muttered to himself. A conversation. He had never actually had a conversation with him. Never bothered to ask him about his past or what it was like living in the mansion they had found him in. Why the woman who had been there had practically pulled him into a corner the minute the man they called the Chief was unconscious and begged him to take Gar. He hadn't known how to say no to her when she sounded so terrified. So he agreed and she quickly ran off to gather his things.

Everything after that had been so insane. Everything after that had been about Rachel. He always checked in with Rachel. Even with Connor who'd only been with them less than a year, he made it a point to check-in. Heck. Even Rose and Jason. He'd taken the time to try and talk to those two before Gar. 

Dick left his drink unfinished and made his way toward Gar's room. This would end today. He'd apologize. Clear the air. But most importantly he'd make an effort. 

When he reached the hall that housed the younger Titans he suddenly wished he'd waited a little later in the morning to apologize. 

The bunch of them were notoriously light sleepers. No thanks in part to Dick who insisted they should learn to be in case a mission required it. 

He didn't need his entire team hearing this. He'd just have to pull them into a conference room. When he reached Gar's door he decided to take a minute to collect his thoughts. 

How would he start this conversation? Gar I'm sorry for the tension between us lately. No. Garfield, I owe you an apology. That wasn't right either. He should ask first to be forgiven instead. Right? 

Dick didn't quite keep track of how long he stood in front of Gar's door going over the conversation in his head. He gave his opening line one last run under his breath and straightened up to knock on the door. Before his fist could connect with the door, two entries down at Rachels door, Gar slipped out into the hallway and froze. 

They blinked at each other. Dick was aware of the tightness in his chest and the fact that he couldn't seem to get his mouth to close. 

"Gar."

"We... there was a movie last night. We all fell asleep in there. Connors inside now you can check" his voice was jumping in every high point. He had to teach him to be a better lier. 

"Connor is in there? And you were just gonna leave him in there alone with Rachel?" 

Behind him, he hears another swing door open, he tilts slightly to catch which one it is. Connor's. Walking out with Krypto on his heels. 

"Mornin','' he yawned at them as he went down the hall. "You guys are being way too loud, did you need me?"

"No Connor, sorry." Dick waved at his door, "Feel free to go back to bed." 

"Nah. Already up." 

When he turned back to face Gar his face was flushed with red, the familiar hunch in his shoulder present when he was ready to morph. Ready to disappear from their current situation.

Dick raised his hands, "Hey, it's okay. I...uh. It's not my business where you spend the night, to an extent at least. 

Gar seemed to relax at that but he continued to shift his weight, like a scared animal getting ready to bolt. 

"Can we talk." Dick nodded toward the meeting room at the end of the hall, "In there maybe. Before the rest of you wake up." 

"Yeah. Of course." 

They took the 20 feet down the hall in silence. Dick awkwardly holding the door open to the conference room for them when they finally arrived. Gar ducked inside making his body as small as possible as to not graze Dick or the door. 

They didn't say anything for a while, both with hands shoved deep in the pockets of sweatpants. Gar yawned at one point and Dick realized how early it still was. 

"Maybe we should have done this over coffee," he tried to joke. 

Gar gave him a quiet little laugh, "Yeah, maybe." 

He looked up at Dick then, his big brown eyes showing to much vulnerability. He was scared. It wasn't right to keep dragging this on. 

"Garfield, I'm sorry. About what Donna and I said on that plane." 

Gar didn't respond. But his face softened, clearly not having been expecting an apology. Dick continued.

"Not just that, ruining the summit for you. The way I've been acting these past few weeks. The way I've acted with you since I've met you really." he took a breath to run his hands through his hair. 

"I've been treating you," he bit into his cheek as he remembered Kori's words, "like an animal." 

They were silent for a minute until Gar quietly spoke up. "I mean yeah, I am one." 

"Well regardless, I don't like how I've treated you."

"Neither do I." 

Dick didn't know what to say to such a frank response. 

"Right well, I'm sorry." 

"Apology accepted. Sort of." 

"Sort of?" 

Gar leaned forward in his seat, rubbing his palms against his sweatpants. "I know that I've been making everyone uncomfortable lately. With my powers. I'm sorry too. But I don't think it's going to stop anytime soon. So I need you to understand why and I don't know, maybe, you can help us figure out a solution." 

Dick frowned, "A solution to what?" 

"Rachel's dad. We think he might have done something to me. When he healed me. The working theory is that he planted something inside. Of me that is. And now it's like. Any little thing she tells me to do. It's not that I can't disobey her. But there's just this pull. That I need to." 

Dick blinked. What could you possibly respond to that? 

"So what. He linked you two... somehow?"

"More like he arranged for a butler," he let out a chuckle, "It's kind of how we joke about it at least."

"Why didn't you two tell me?" 

"Well. For starters it slightly embarrassing. Not to add that everyone already thinks we have like, 'a thing', or whatever. We both figured the teasing would suck more than dealing with it ourselves. It's just gotten pretty bad lately. I get this like. I don't know how to explain it. Like an itch, if she's too far away. It doesn't seem to affect Rae as far as we've been able to tell." 

Dick took a moment to process, between the dump of information and seriousness of Gar's voice he wasn't used to hearing he felt like he was getting whiplash. This conversation was meant to be about teenage PDA, not indentured servitude. 

"How long has it been since this thing has gotten worse. Since you've felt the itch." 

"Month or so. We were planning on telling you guys. Honest. But then we could both sense you were annoyed at me and I didn't want to pack it on even more."

"Gar, this isn't annoying. This is a serious concern. I want you both to feel comfortable coming to me with issues or things you don't understand. Especially when it comes to your powers." 

Gar bowed his head. He was ashamed of himself, but if they were in this situation it was because of Dick. He should have had more trust in them both. 

Dick moved closer and placed a tight squeeze on Gar's arm. "We're gonna figure this thing out okay. The three of us. Or four I should say. I'm gonna have to let Kori in on this. Is that okay?"

"Oh, Kori already knows."

"What." 

"We told her last night. 

Dick clicked his tongue, of course, Kori already knew. "So that's why she was so upset this morning."

"She's upset!? At me!?"

"No no, she was mad at me. She's the reason anyone communicates around here isn't she."

That got him a smile in response. 

"We're gonna figure this out, okay Gar?" 

"Okay. Sounds good."

"And no more not talking. Any secrets relating to abilities you share alright?"

"Of course. Even more of an open book from here on out." he crossed across his heart, his demeanor back to his old giddy self. 

Dick smiled and stood, pulling Gar up by the arm, "And we're chatting more from now one. Okay?" 

"Do you think we can chat about Batman?"

"Let's do breakfast. You make me some good enough waffles maybe we can chat about Batman." 

Gar bounced on his feet, excited at the prospect of Dick finally eating his breakfast, "Strawberry or Blueberries?"

"Why not both?"

"Oh man, yes! We can go berry crazy!"

"Okay well, maybe not too crazy. Minimum three berries." 

Gar only laughed, already skipping backward towards the kitchen, "Minimum three! But a surprise fruit makes an appearance!" 

Dick laughed. "Fine. With a surprise fruit." 

Living in this tower. What was one more surprise?

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back after a summer hiatus. Here's the deal with reasons not to die. I got so many mean pm's on tumblr where I also post fics about how gross the bbrae fics are. I think I was one of the first to post for this pairing in the new TV  
DC universe. So if you're here to hate on that. Let me tell you I'm over it. It's a show. Bye.


End file.
